VW to offer USB ports for music players

9 September 2005

Hot on the heels of Mazda’s talk of USB-friendly cars comes news from VW that its upcoming Golf R32 and Eos folding tin-top will gain the option of a USB socket or Apple iPod connector.Following the R32 and Eos debuts at Frankfurt, the sockets will appear on the options lists of the Golf, Golf Plus and Touran, plus other models next year.It sounds like a suitably clever system, that treats the iPod or USB stick (or other player attached by cable) as if it were a CD autochanger:

You can simply plug USB sticks into the built-in console in the centre armrest ... Up to six music folders can be displayed as CDs one to six on the radio or navigation system screen. Any information that has been stored for the music files - for example, the number of the song and the timer - will be displayed. The scan, search and shuffle functions can be selected using the radio buttons as you would for CDs. When you switch the radio off, the track being played will be stopped and will then continue when you turn it back on. The supported formats include MP3, of course.